Subscribe to my newsletter - the Step Up! You'll get an inside look into my thoughts, mental models, and ways of going about life - with the goal of helping you do the same. Take the first step and join me on this journey. Newsletter every Thursday at 4:30pm CST.
The Step Up - Volume 2: Systems > Goals
Volume 2: Systems > GoalsDon't focus on goals. Focus on systems. Goals are exciting and wonderful and motivational and everything good!!! Until you need to achieve them.. Then comes the frustration, disillusionment, and burnout. Goals are nothing without the systems in place to achieve them. Goals are ideas. Systems are repeatable frameworks of actions. Goals are a destination. Systems are how you get there. And life isn't a destination - it's a journey. An infinite game. You don't "win" life. You live. Life itself is a collection of systems of doing and being (hence the name "human being"). James Clear, author of Atomic Habits (absolutely life changing book by the way - here's my copy with a ton of sticky notes), said it perfectly: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” You can set aspirational goals to lose 30 pounds in the next year or save 25% of your income over the next 6 months, and that's amazing! I'm all here for it (personal big fan of SMART goals). But if you don't have equal or even better systems in place to achieve them, you'll fall short. If you want to lose 30 pounds in a year, that's your goal! And here are some examples of systems you could create:
Ground your goals in high quality, enjoyable systems that you can repeatedly do with relative ease. And don't be afraid to change your systems around if you need! It's all about what works best for you to achieve your goals. And that takes trial and error. Just remember to focus more on the journey (systems) than the destination (goal). You may miss some beautiful sights if you don't. See you next Thursday, Steppers. We will succeed, Grayson Song of the Week:
Words don't do this song justice. Iris is a classic. The lyrics, the emotion, the instrumentation, the vocal belting, all of it. One of my all-time favorite songs and one of those I get reminded of every 6 months and am like "man, I love this song!" (most recently after hearing a pretty solid cover by Machine Gun Kelly and Julia Wolf). Timeless music. |
Grayson Stepanek
Subscribe to my newsletter - the Step Up! You'll get an inside look into my thoughts, mental models, and ways of going about life - with the goal of helping you do the same. Take the first step and join me on this journey. Newsletter every Thursday at 4:30pm CST.
Volume 4: Bias to Action My good friend Tim Miquez (love you, Tim) made a great LinkedIn post recently about initiative, and it reminded me about a concept I'm heavily invested in: Bias to action. It's simple: once you've had an idea, lean toward acting. It's very easy to continually brainstorm ideas, push back a task or project, or think about a decision for many reasons: You want all the information You want the "perfect" idea You're waiting for the "right" time You're nervous about making...
Volume 3: Fail Fast & Often "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" -Thomas Jefferson on inventing the light bulb This is one of my favorite quotes - ever. It's not defeatist. It's just a guy who knows he's on the path to accomplishment, and these "failures" are just necessary steps on that path. A lot of us have heard people say "You don't fail unless you quit. Until then, you learn." It's been said countless times over millennia in different ways: "Failure is...
Volume 1: We will succeed In my Welcome email, I told you my definition of success: "causing others to succeed because of your success" I start off my newsletter journey with this motto because it is the core of who I am, and it was produced during the hardest time of my life. One of my best friends, Austin Johnson, committed suicide on June 20, 2019. I can talk endlessly about that day, but I'll leave it at that for now. It was rock bottom for myself, our friend group, and his family. And...